Baradium

That's news to me.

No CAs have been displaced either, although I imagine some of the 4-5 month upgrades won't be able to hold CA anywhere else when the MD-88s go away to be replaced with more modern aircraft. It's not a reduction in captain positions, just removal of the ones that many bid to avoid.

MasterOfPuppets

Classes at DL in the 20s and low 30s is a departure from last year when they were 50s and 60s.

Nice spin on the downgrades.......an involuntary downgrade is an involuntary downgrade no matter how junior or how ****ty a pilot.

Baradium

Class sizes have been up and down, I think we're actually running more classes so overall numbers should work out around the same. I missed it if there are any classes that were in the 20s but I've seen mid to upper 30s.

It's still a downgrade, but it's not like we're downgrading for doom and gloom. It'll be because we're getting rid of an airplane people don't like and the replacements are ones that people do. Just makes sense that they will be more senior.

JetBlast77

Clearly they’re doing something right. Delta has been kicking our a** financially for the past decade.

Regularguy

A decade? Try always.

Because of Delta’s routes and hubs, they have ALWAYS had a higher revenue per seat mile than UAL. While it may not sound like much, it is typically at least a penny higher than UAL.

UAL management will tell you there is a cost issue, but the facts are they can’t sell our seats for as much as Delta. Simple.

BMEP100

If you check, you'll see Delta and Continental and American beat United most every year since 1996?
Often by much more than a penny.

http://http://web.mit.edu/airlinedat...0per%20ASM.htm

sailingfun

Delta plans on hiring about 1000 pilots this year. That is pretty much what we have hired every year. There are no plans to reduce CA jobs at Delta. They are increasing not decreasing. Some CA who are wildly out of Seniority on the MD88 might not be able to hold CA on another aircraft for the moment but will probably be able to upgrade again within 18 months. We are talking about CA’s hired after 2015 in this discussion.

BMEP100

That's what happens when a company does not try to micro manage their front line employees from a crystal palace with reems of paper policies and procedures, vs. good info, training and empowerment. Something totally foreign to UAL..

It was the reason for Eastern's demise long before Lorenzo, with the Astronut in charge and made Delta into a powerhouse in ATL (previously dominated by EAL),

Link corrected for RASMs
http://web.mit.edu/airlinedata/www/2...0per%20ASM.htm

oldmako

If you think that's what caused the demise of EAL, there is a hole in your historical airline knowledge base big enough to fly an L1011 through. At least according to everything I have read. I was paying the EAL strike assessment at the time and ravenously reading all I could regarding the industry as I was an FNG at the time. To be sure, Borman was an incompetent CEO and they had deep-seated problems. Yet at the 11th hour, ALPA capitulated and gave away the house to save the airline. They gave Borman everything he wanted, even though they had already burned the furniture. Yet, he told them to pound sand and that the sale to lorenzo was a done deal. The company had been systematically raped to prepare for the sale. At some point, it became clear that EA management never had sincere intent to save the company.

And, to this bemused observer, the amount of "micro managing of front line employees from a crystal palace with reams of paper policies and procedures" exploded at United post-merger.

But, it sure sounds good!

Floyd

Before you refuse that jet make sure you have that conference call with anyone and everyone. After you refuse that jet make sure you fill out that IOR. Hahaha.